Stripes and Fangs
by PeppermintPeople
Summary: Peppermint Butler is/was a demon working for Death. He has his own secrets but what happens when Marceline tries to uncover them? sorry for sucky title & summary rated T for paranoia. first fanfic so enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

First fanfic so don't hate me! If you give me any flames make sure they're funny!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Adventure Time! I if I did it wouldn't be half as awesome**

Chapter 1  
The colorful candy halls were silent as Peppermint Butler walked through them. He was in the middle of locking up Princess Bubblegum's castle for the night when he heard a small snippet of a conversation,  
"...to the Land of the Dead...before Prinncess Bubblegum returns"  
"Okay."

Peppermint Butler's curiosity was piqued, it had been long since he had made contact with anything related to the Land of the Dead and, he had to admit, he wanted to help Finn and Jake. He had grown fond of the pair and he needed to practice opening the door to Death's Realm anyway.

"Excuse me," Peppermint Butler said politely, "but did you all say Land of the Dead?"  
"Oh, what? Uh, yeah."  
"I can take you." the sweet replied nonchalantly  
"Really?" Finn seemed doubtful,  
"Certainly Finn," he reassured the boy, "for a small price, which we can discuss later. Take my hands gentlemen." the round candy person commanded. Then, in an almost chanting tone, he spoke;  
" Stare into where the two walls meet. Now slowly, cross your eyes."  
When Finn and Jake hesitated he urged them, "Do it fools!"

This time they did what they were told. The corner of the room wavered then parted to reveal a molten wasteland in hues of red and black.

"The portal opens!" Peppermint Butler said enigmatically.

"Say hi to Death for me if you see him! He lives in a castle made of light" Peppermint called out as they crossed the portal.  
"Uh, okay" said Jake  
"Thanks Peppermint Butler." Finn, always living up to his honor, didn't forget to thank the royal servant.

Suddenly remembering to warn them about the waters of the Lethe he shouted "and don't drink the-" the Gate was shut, leaving Peppermint alone in the room, "-water" he finished quietly.

Sighing, Peppermint Butler walked away to finish his task of locking up. He must have spent a lot of time out of contact with Death if he had nearly forgotten about the Waters of the Dead. He was so used to his daily chores that he did them without thinking. With a satisfying click the main entrance was closed and Peppermint Butler could finally return to the familiarity of his candy home.

Marceline-

The sun's rays withdrew from a cave by the sea and the pale, silvery light of the moon replaced it. After another day of sleeping, Marceline the Vampire Queen woke up for the night. The past few weeks had been dull, nothing much to do when you can only come out when the rest of the world is asleep. She decided to practice on her axe bass (not that she needed to) and write a new song. Marceline loved playing on that bass. Being an ancient family heirloom made it special. She flew down to her mostly purple ground floor to pluck it from the couch that she never used when she was alone. She didn't need a couch, or a bed, or even a house for that matter, but having things a normal person would helped her act like she was almost alive.

She lovingly adjusted the lethal bass on her lap, tuned it and turned to a good page in her journal and had just opened her mouth to sing when a killer headache smacked her skull.  
"Oh Grod!" she growled,  
falling back on her downy bed, holding her head between her hands between he knees. Who would have thought a bed would actually be useful? The ache passed as quickly as it had come but there had been something strange about it. It didn't hurt like a normal headache but like one of those warning signals she got from time to time. With her dad being the Lord of Evil, Marceline's status in the Nightosphere was high enough that she would be alerted when either the Death or Nightosphere Doors where opened.

Whenever the Nightosphere was opened Marceline felt a teensy wave of comfort because that was where she came from. When Death was opened (meaning someone died) she felt a small throbbing in her temple but that was all.

This warning though, was different. Not only was it painful but it was unnatural. Death's Door had been forced open, but only suicidal demons did that. Death did not welcome any intruders, especially if they came from the Nightosphere. And if there was a demon, how did it get into Ooo unnoticed? Marceline would have sensed, and recognized one, in a heartbeat.

Thinking hard, the Vampire Queen flopped down on her bed, too confused to float. She needed to talk to her dad but decided to put it off until she became desperate.

The sun's rays illuminated the cave outside, telling Marceline that she had wasted a whole night thinking and that it was time to shut her window and sleep. She obeyed the command unknowingly and shut her eyes.

If you made it all the way to the bottom I love you! Please review!

If you're a 9gagger, a 90's kid, human, please review. Even if you aren't, just review


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: still don't own Adventure Time! *sigh***

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Chapter 2  
Peppermint Butler-

Warm, wet blood pulsed against his mouth. Peppermint Butler drank it eagerly, relishing the taste and texture. The moon was new and the darkness made it easier to feed without fear of witnesses, to hide the stains of blood and to make the  
clean-up less conspicuous, in short, the perfect time to feed. While he was silently congratulating himself on choosing such a good time to feed, his victim was gradually emptied to a dry husk. Peppermint Butler felt his claws and teeth shrinking and dulling and felt his demonic nature recede. With the bliss of feeding came the vulnerability of hiding away his true nature. Now he was little more than an average candy person. He moved the heavy goblin woman so her puncture wound faced the sky and no blood would leave tell-tale tracks for others to follow.

Although he was used to it now, Peppermint Butler couldn't help but hold a very slight irritation towards his friend Death. Death was the one who reincarnated him, they were close enough that he would even let Peppermint keep his all his memories of his previous life and of his time in the Dead Realm but did this second life have to come with an annoying necessity?

His obligation was that every month he would need to hunt, kill, feed and dispose of a sentient creature at least twice his physical size. Death told him that although He had a new body, if he didn't drink fresh blood every month his past monstrous form would return and he would be kept away from fulfilling his duty to Death, guarding Princess Bubblegum. Death also said that the monthly hunt would hone his strength and skill  
'as if I need to practice. I am one of the best hunters there are, if not the greatest' thought Peppermint Butler ruefully. As if to spite his friend, he raised the corpse from the ground and carried it in his arms at eye level. He made his way to the goblin cemetery. It caused less suspicion if you buried your kill where others of its species were laid to rest. Determined not to pant or rest until he reached his destination, Peppermint Butler walked briskly, avoiding obstacles and witnesses with ease, even in the unyielding darkness of the night. After making intricate false trails to confuse anyone who might follow, round, colorless objects finally came into sight. He had arrived.

Marceline-

Marceline confirmed that Death's Door had been opened. Bonnie was carrying around a resurrected plant, although she couldn't sense it's newborn aura. Ever since that revelation, Marceline flew around Ooo, searching for demons, threats or anything vaguely evil. Tonight she was especially hopeful because it was a new moon. Demons loved the darkness and loved the loss of light, however temporary it was.

When she scented blood she followed its enticing aroma to a dense part of the forests near the Goblin Kingdom. The small beads of goblin blood were only just noticeable to the vampire's sensitive eyes. She wasn't sure if she should be happy with this new lead or consider it a threat. Her dark orbs scanned the forest around her. There was a patch of slightly flattened grass and, was she mistaken? The sweet smell of candy. "what the stuff?" she wondered aloud.

Candy people didn't have blood, they had sugar in their veins. She sniffed the air some more, to make sure she wasn't imagining it. She wasn't. That was a candy person smell, no mistaking it. What was a candy person doing near the Goblin Forests, during a new moon and with goblin blood? Surely a candy person wouldn't kill someone? They were too sweet (no pun intended) and stupid, with the exception of Bonnibel. At least now Marceline had strong scent to follow. The Vampire Queen's eyes lidded themselves halfway as she let her nose lead the way.

Peppermint Butler-

He chose an empty plot of dirt beside the fence. After brushing away some weeds he lowered the body to the ground and began his task. With his back protected by the fence Peppermint Butler could safely face the direction of where he just came from, to see if anyone had followed him. He knew he was being overly cautious but it couldn't be helped. Once, before he started using the techniques he knew now, a child of his past victim had managed to follow him. That had been a night of many firsts. The first time he fed twice in a night, the first time he had been discovered, the first time he had extinguished the bright light of a child's life. Peppermint Butler didn't mind feeding twice in a night, as long as the neither of the victims were children. An innocent face twisted in revulsion, horror and angry accusation was an axe-blow to his conscience (yes, he had one, no matter how small).

Wrenching his thoughts away from that depressing path, he focused on the task at hand. Flinging his shovel over his shoulder methodically, the dark, rich soil was gradually emptied and all that was left was a large hole. Once it was deep enough he quickly threw the body in and started returning the soft loam to the earth it came from. Movement caught his eye, a silhouette high above the trees. Quickly he ran to a grave with a relatively fresh bouquet of flowers and snatched it up, pretending he was visiting the grave of a long lost friend. His thoughts ran in every direction, frantic, but trying to attain the face of a person in genuine sorrow.

He was excited, wondering if he would get to feed again. Apprehensive, what if it was a child again? A flying child was unlikely but still, he couldn't help but wonder. Most of all, he was irritated and disappointed with himself, even with all this caution a mortal had managed to follow him! Even more degrading was that this was Ooo! A very, very large majority of its citizens were either naive or stupid or both, how could they have tracked him? The flying creature got closer. Peppermint Butler brought false tears to his eyes. Even with the water his sight was still remarkable. He saw now that the creature was a girl, around Princess Bubblegum's age, beautiful, with two minuscule holes in her neck and the tips of fangs protruding from her upper lip. A vampire in Ooo?

Marceline-

Marceline flew in time with the cool night breeze, taking her time. This candy person was cunning, she would give it that. The false trails it made went through nearly the whole forest but its scent was a dead give-away. The smell was strongest at the Goblin Cemetery. Visiting a dead friend on a pitch black night was nothing a candy person would do and the dead goblin blood was here as well so, looking at the facts, the candy person probably murdered a goblin. Neither answer was likely though.  
'I'll just ask it myself' thought Marceline. For some reason, the thought filled her with dread.  
'you're the Vampire Queen,' she scolded herself, 'Vampires don't get scared of little candy people'  
The graveyard came into sight, a large piece of land surrounded by wrought black iron, dedicated to dead bodies. Standing in the midst of it all was a white circle with red stripes, looking down sadly at a grave with flowers in hand.

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If you reached the bottom of this chappy I love you! If you are review I will love you even more!

Also, **_mangoisme_**, thank you! My first review! I FREAKIN' LOVE YOU


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